Ex-DPP chair Lin to start anti-nuclear hunger strike

By Chris Wang / Staff reporter

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung(林義雄) yesterday announced that he is to go on a hunger strike on Tuesday next week to urge the government to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).

In a press release, Lin — who is well-known for his advocacy for the anti-nuclear movement, condemned the government for insisting on continuing building the plant — despite most public opinion polls showing that the majority of Taiwanese are against the plant being put into operation.

“The controversy has been there for almost three decades. More and more people are now starting to realize that electricity is in abundant supply in Taiwan and the plant is a meaningless squandering of time and money,” said Lin, who recently joined a group of academics and politicians who are seeking to establish a political group called Taiwan Citizen Union.

“If the majority of the public supports stopping construction of the Gongliao plant and those in power still ignore their calls with sinister measures, then I would say that our democracy is in crisis,” Lin said, adding that the issue of nuclear power in Taiwan is one of “life and death,” citing the 2011 disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

The 73-year-old Lin said he had originally planned to start his indefinite hunger strike on March 24, but postponed it due to the Sunflower movement protests.

Lin will conduct his hunger strike at Gikong Presbyterian Church (義光教會) on Taipei’s Xinyi Road.

The church was converted from the Lin family’s former residence after his mother and twin daughters were murdered there on Feb. 28, 1980, by an unknown assailant.

His eldest daughter, Lin Huan-chin (林奐均), then nine years old, survived the attack.

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